NEWPORT City Council is to allocate an additional £7.2 million to its reserves – which already has a total of more than £130 million.

An underspend of £18.4 million from the 2021/22 budget has resulted in the council boosting its reserves pot.

At a Cabinet meeting on July 13, leader Cllr Jane Mudd said the underspend was due to “unexpected grant income from Welsh Government received late in the year”.

Parks and open spaces will see £2.5 million of the underspend, £500,000 will go to domiciliary care, and £300,000 to St Andrews primary temporary accommodation costs.

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni said: “The investment in our parks is showing our commitment to green spaces.”

He added that he supported “bolstering” the reserves in preparation for winter.

The remaining £7.8 million of the underspend will be allocated in a Cabinet meeting later in the year.

Leader of the opposition Conservative group, Cllr Matthew Evans, said: “There is merit in putting money away for a rainy day but a lot of services are struggling and we need to ensure that Newport residents are getting value for money.

“They need to ensure current front line services are staffed, rather than leaving money around until September. They should be looking at what services are struggling and ensure that they are funded.

“I was surprised they didn’t announce more spending now.”